6023 Spring Doins ANZA EXPEDITIONS History

ecord time. Anza traveled to Mission San Carlos de Borromeo to pay a courtesy
visit, then returned promptly to San Gabriel, having covered 700 miles in less
than three weeks. Father Diaz had returned to San Gabriel after obtaining the
sextant and being instructed in its use. The latitudes recorded by the party were
remarkably accurate given the state of the art at that time.
San Gabriel to Tubac
After a single day’s rest, the combined parties of Anza and Father Diaz,
now numbering seventeen, left on their return journey. Anza attempted to shorten
the journey by going in a more southerly direction. On the inbound journey they
had traveled north of today’s Lake Perris, but passed south of it on the way
home. The ground was drier now, and they made better time, reusing many of
their original campsites. Travel was easy, but south of the Pass of San Carlos a
volley of Indian arrows injured three of the horses. Four of the perpetrators were
caught and lashed, and threatened with death for any subsequent offenses--
evidently, not all the local people were happy with the Spanish entrada. The party
set a blistering pace, although Anza realized that a column encumbered with
pack mules could not travel this quickly. They reunited with Garces’ party at the
Yuma villages to a grand reception by Palma and his people on May 10, eight
days after leaving San Gabriel.
As promised by Palma on the inbound leg of the trip, a large raft had been
constructed, and with it the entire party was ferried across the Colorado without
any mishaps. Palma also presented Anza with animals and supplies that had
been left with him for safekeeping. Palma’s assistance had added immeasurably
to the success of the expedition, and he and Anza apparently developed a true
friendship between Indian and Spaniard, highly unusual for this time and place.
They followed the Gila upstream, then turned south toward Tubac, arriving there
on May 27, 1774 after a journey of 140 days. Anza’s mission to establish an
overland trail from northern Mexico to Monterey had been successful, and the
stage was set for his second expedition of 1775-1776.
The Second Expedition
Shortly after his return to Tubac, Anza traveled south to Mexico City to
personally inform Viceroy Bucareli of the details of his trip. Anza also indicated
his willingness to assemble a group of settlers and to deliver them to Monterey,
from whence they could colonize San Francisco Bay, which at that time was
believed to be the mouth of a great river running all the way from the Rocky
Mountains. There was growing concern about the British and Russians, who
were impinging on Spain’s northernmost frontier in Alta California. Even if San
Francisco Bay was not the terminus of a great river, its potential as a major port
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